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Posted
October 09, 2007

Mercy Hospital profiled for health technology innovations

The Cincinnati Enquirer details how Mercy Hospital has used technology to both save money and improve the quality of their care. (Source: "Hospitals hope technology saves money, lives," Oct. 9, 2007.) Among the technology advances in the hospitals are touch screens which tell nurses if a room is clean and ready for another patient and "smart pumps" that "virtually eliminate human error in dispensing intravenous fluids." In addition, the hospital now lets doctors "view digitized X-ray images from their offices and home computers."

According to the article, Mercy's parent company Catholic Healthcare Partners (CHP) spends about $120 million a year on these new systems, with half that going to the systems themselves and the rest on staffing and maintenance. CHP was recently recognized "as being one of the 500 most innovative technology programs in the country by Information Week magazine." Across the country, hospitals spend on average "$5,556 per bed on technology systems in 2006, and $12,060 per bed on operating costs for those systems, including staffing, according to the American Hospital Association."